I apologize for such a late update on this. Time just flew by! Anywho, I want thank all who read my story and review - you are the best! Srsly.

~Ninja 8D

Chapter 9: A Witch's Threat

It was perfect. There she was, wandering the halls all by her lonesome. He could finally engage her without having something go wrong. No interruptions, no sudden distractions, and certainly no Merlin following them everywhere they went. What was with that, anyway? Why did Merlin force himself upon them? And why did Merlin physically flinch every time he heard her name? Arthur didn't know. He did know, however, that tonight was finally his chance with Adria.

Arthur had discovered that he felt an attraction towards Adria just some time after he met her. There was something about her – something different – that intrigued him, and he was determined to figure out more about this mysterious woman. So, very subtly, he began to hang around her more, invite her to walk with him, have dinner, and the works. It seemed to work, for she had rarely ever denied him her company. It all went well, except for the fact that Merlin trailed them like a dog. This irritated the prince, and no matter how many times he told Merlin to go stick his head in a lake, he still showed up. He thought there was no hope of ever being alone with her – until he found her walking the hall at night.

He planned on engaging her in a conversation. After that, he had no clue. He never expected he would lean forward and try to kiss her. In the heat of eye contact, Arthur suddenly felt the urge to close the distance in between them. Adria did not object, since she made no move to step away or slap him across the face. No, she would have probably kissed him . . . if she had not fainted. Before Arthur knew it, Adria's eyes rolled into the back of her head and her knees buckled, sending her tumbling backwards unexpectedly. Thankfully, the training Arthur had been giving all his life allowed him to quickly react by snaking an arm around her torso to prevent her from hitting her head against the floor. Once she had been securely wrapped in his arms, Arthur knelt down and propped her up against him.

"Adria? Adria!" he shouted, hoping that somehow his voice would penetrate her unconscious mind and wake her up.

Surprise, it didn't work.

Feeling a wave of panic beginning to course through him, Arthur tried calling her name once more, but it was to no avail. Finally getting the hint that yelling at her would not wake her up, he slipped one arm under her knees and hoisted her up into his arms. There was one person he knew that could figure out what was wrong with her, and he wasted no time in swiftly hurrying throughout the castle to the man's quarters.

"Gaius! Gaius, wake up!" Arthur kicked the wooden door with his foot, sending a reverberating sound throughout the halls. Several moments passed and no one answered. "Gaius!" he yelled again, sending another loud kick flying into the door. As he waited, Arthur continuously glanced down at the pale face of Adria. Every few moments the color of her skin grew whiter and whiter, and Arthur was afraid she would turn invisible if he waited any longer.

At long last, someone had managed to stumble to the door and open it up. Standing on the other side was Merlin; half of his face was red from sleeping on it, his hair looked unruly, and it was plainly obvious that he was still half asleep.

"Mother?"

Merlin's voice was groggy and he looked as if he was about to drop down onto the floor and fall right back asleep. Not even bothering to call him an idiot, Arthur commanded for him to clear the table off as he swept into the room. Even though he was still in a dazed mood, Merlin obeyed and fumbled over to the table in the middle of the room and clumsily shoved everything onto the floor.

"What is this? What is going on?" came another groggy voice. This time, it was the person Arthur was hoping for.

Arthur began to inform the older man on his dilemma, "Gaius, there is something wrong with her. She fainted and the color in her face is rapidly disappearing."

Gaius, obviously more alert than his drowsy ward, looked down at the young girl with a thoughtful expression. He did not immediately move to help her, on the contrary: he stood in silence for several painful moments, looking as if he was debating whether to help her or not.

"Gaius, please."

His eyes shifted over in Arthur direction, this time studying the young man's expression. Seeing the worried face the boy carried, Gaius sighed. "Merlin, go and get me a wet rag."

A loud shattering sound answered the physician. Both Gaius and Arthur shot their eyes over to where the noise had come from. Merlin guiltily stood by a pile of broken remains of what use to be an empty vile.

"Sorry," Merlin yawned before scrambling to get what Gaius had asked.

———

Darkness. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear, she couldn't feel. She was aware, and yet she felt she wasn't at the same time. Where was this? What happened? The last memory she recalled was being within the presence of Arthur. Was she stricken on the back of the head? Maybe she was dead. If she was, then where was she? Adria never expected the afterlife to be like this; Dark, empty, and full of distant whispers.

For the first time in a long time, Adria was scared.

Quite suddenly, her full figure appeared in the center of the mass of darkness. Adria quickly examined her hands, turning them every way possible, and then moved on to feeling her body. She could feel her solid figure . . . yet it seemed as if it was all a dream - a horrible, horrible dream. As well as she could see through her own eyes, she could also see an outside visual as she stood peering into the darkness.

"Why haven't you finished it yet?" A loud, yet distant voice resonated all around her.

Adria, already flustered from her current situation, said the only thing that came to mind. "Finished what?" she asked the voice without moving her lips; her own voice echoing from a distance.

"The task, the task! Why have you not completed it?" the distant voice screeched from afar, obviously not in a pleasant mood.

"I – I don't know." Adria stammered, yet again not having to move her mouth.

This time, the voice's tone was sarcastic. "You don't know?"

"I – I – "

"You have failed me, then."

At that moment, Adria let out a long, exasperated sigh and closed her eyes. She knew exactly of whom she was speaking to.

"I shall give you once last chance. Finish the task within a day's time, or pay the consequences."

The voice's already far away sound began to fade as well as everything else, but Adria had clenched her fists in anger.

"No."

"'No'?" Repeated her mother, or "Queen" as she is more commonly known. "What do you mean by 'No'?"

"I will not do it."

A pause.

"Twenty-four hours. Do it or – "

"I will not kill Arthur; and as long as I am alive, you won't either."

"You dare defy me?!" Her mother hissed; her voice now so loud Adria grimaced. Dark purple clouds began to form and swirl above her.

"I am under your command no more."

"Traitor! You would let your petty emotions get between you and your own flesh and blood? Insufferable wench! Either finish him, or eternally suffer!"

"No!"

"KILL HIM!"

A large image of the mother abruptly appeared before Adria. If her mother had not looked sinister enough, her eyes were outlined with dark shadows and purple bolts of lightning began to erupt all around her. Adria screamed as thousands of black specks began to shoot towards her, each and every one stinging her skin as if she had been bitten by thousands of bugs. Darkness then took over, and everything was black once more.

---

Adria awoke and shot up to a ninety-degree position, a blood-curdling scream echoing throughout the room. She clawed at her skin in a frantic attempt to rid of the tingling sensation stuck beneath her exterior. Completely petrified, Adria began to hastily examine her surroundings. She did not know where she was at first, but when she saw an older man nonchalantly staring at her she knew where she had been taken.

"Gaius? What – ?"

"You fainted." He interrupted, not looking the slightest bit worried about her frantic state. Without any prompt, he grabbed her hand and placed a cold, wet towel in her palm. At first, Adria arched an eyebrow and looked at the towel with suspicion. But when she lifted her free hand and placed it on the top of her forehead, she felt how clammy she was and immediately knew what the towel was for.

"Arthur brought you here last night," Gaius began, standing up and traversing over to one of his bookshelves while Adria cooled herself down, "and as far as I know, there are no symptoms as to why you suddenly collapsed. In my opinion, you are safe to go. I suggest you go to Arthur, however; he was quite worried about you and was very reluctant to leave when he was called by his father."

Adria felt an uneasy knot form within her stomach. Just by the way Gaius was treating her she knew that Merlin had informed him of his suspicions. Not wanting to debate with the court physician, she nodded and slipped off the table. Her legs wobbled, but other than that she was able to stand and make her way out.

"Miss Adria," Gaius called, causing her to abruptly stop right as she was about to grab the door, "It has come to my attentions – and almost everyone else's – that Arthur is rather fond of you."

She was unsure of what his point was, but when she made a move to speak, he stopped her with a hard stare. "You should know that if you harm Arthur in any way, there shall be no place for you to hide."

That was unexpected. Adria looked at Gaius with a slightly fearful expression. He, however, simply turned away from her and searched through her books. Taking this as her queue to leave, she grabbed the rough black doorknob and left the room.

She began to make her way throughout the castle, walking at a fast pace as she did so. Whenever she passed someone, she put on a faux façade and gave them a nod or a smile. But when she turned down a corridor that was empty, her face broke down and she burst into a run. Adria was obviously troubled by her dream and the warning from Gaius. She was scared and confused. She didn't know what she could do. Do what her mother said and kill Arthur, the man she has come to love, or face the unbearable wraith of her punishment. She didn't know.

She just didn't know.

What she did know, on the other hand, was that she needed to get rid of the one thing that had been tormenting her for weeks. It was a small object, and whenever she laid eyes on it, a sharp pain twanged within her stomach. It had to be disposed of, she decided. Adria ran throughout the castle until she reached her quarters. She forced herself through the door and swiftly crossed the room without thinking. A lone black dresser was standing in the corner. She went to the said dresser and pulled open the bottom drawer. At first glance one would assume that the drawer was full of nothing but neatly-folded pieces of cloth. Under the piles of cloth, however, was something very significant. Adria began to tear through the drawer, throwing pieces of cloth behind her in a careless fashion. Her focus was on the small object, and nothing else. Once she got deep enough she was able to stick her hand into the drawer and retrieve a small velvet bag. For a moment she examined the bag to make sure it was the exact one she was hiding. When it was confirmed, she quickly turned around and fled out the door.

———

Gaius had resumed his duties once his patient had exited the room. He showed no signs of worrying or being anxious, but instead imperturbably began to make his potions which were to be delivered at a later date. No sooner did he finish his first small vile when his ward entered the room; Merlin had come to check up on the situation with Adria.

"She's gone." Merlin stated after looking at the empty table.

"Very good Merlin," Gaius said sarcastically, although without a sardonic tone.

The younger boy looked at the physician with a less-than-amused expression. "What happened?" he asked as he turned his attention back to the lone table.

"She woke up screaming. Nothing seemed to be wrong, so I sent her on her way." Replied the mentor, again with a tone that showed he lacked any interest that she had awoken with a fright. Merlin looked as if he was going to speak, but Gaius continued to talk, "Although I did see something interesting when I was examined her this morning. She has a scar right here," he pointed to the upper part of his forearm, indicating to the spot where her scar was.

Merlin looked at Gaius for a moment with a puzzled expression. It took him a moment, but it finally registered in his head. "The scar from the knife wound the first time she tried to kill Arthur!" he exclaimed, receiving a nod from Gaius.

"I believe so. I am afraid this may not be enough evidence to pin on her, but it is definitely – "

"Gaius?"

Both the men turned to look at who had entered. Morgana was peering from behind the door, and when Gaius had said she could enter, she stepped into the room.

"I came to pick up my sleeping draught."

"Of course," Gaius said before moving over to his cabinet.

Morgana looked at the deep-in-thought Merlin. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, Morgana, you are interrupting nothing of importa – "

"We have evidence on Adria." Merlin blurted out, ignoring the raised eyebrow from Gaius.

"You do?"

"Yes. When I first saw the assassin in Arthur's room, she had cut herself on her arm with her knife on accident. Gaius found a scar on Adria that in the exact same place as where the assassin would have hers."

Morgana silently looked at both of them for several moments, then turned to Gaius who had just handed her the potion. "You believe she is the one, then?"

Gaius nodded solemnly. "Indeed I do. I don't believe Uther will have our same views unless we have better evidence, I'm afraid. Anyone can have a scar on their arm. I think that if we can find something more solid we could – "

Without warning, Morgana hurriedly left the room, leaving the two boys to stare at the door in confusion.

———

Adria rushed down corridor after corridor, holding her small bag in her hand as tight as she could. She fought hard to keep tears away, but she was still shaken up from her previous experience. Still, she hurried as fast as she could, wanting to get rid of the item within the small bag. Adria knew that Arthur would have wanted to see her right away, yet she felt this had to be done before she could resume with her life. This object was torturing her, and she finally wanted to get rid of it once and for all.

Finally making out into the fields, Adria rushed past all the knights and knights-in-training, trying her best to keep on a normal appearance but ultimately failed. She did not care, though, for she continued to hurry on. At last she got to her destination: a small, somewhat enclosed area full of trees and bushes. Adria crouched down and dug her hand into the small bag. When she pulled her hand out, she had a small vile full of brown liquid resting between her fingers. It had been given to her weeks ago by her mother and had tormented her ever since. She had the desperate need to dispose of it, and that is what she did. Pulling the cork off of the vile, Adria slowly began to tip it and allowed the thick liquid to slowly ooze out. It dripped down to the ground, burning the grass as it made contact. It sizzled then dissolved, leaving no evidence that it was there except for the brown patches of grass. Adria allowed the toxic potion to empty about halfway before her emotions overcame her. She was going to pay hard for this, and the thought of her punishment frightened her to such a point that her hand began to shake and she dropped the vile. Now with her face covered in tears, Adria pressed her hand over her mouth and dashed away, completely overcome with emotion.

———

Morgana watched as the red-headed woman sprinted away from the small cluster of bushes in a flurry. Why Adria was running, Morgana was unsure, but what she was sure of was that the other woman was doing something mysterous over by the bushes. When Gaius had mentioned that they truly suspected Adria of trying to kill Arthur, she decided to waste no time and to follow the girl. Before Morgana had entered the court physician's chambers, she saw Adria running past with a troubled look. She thought not much of it at first, yet now she was suspicious.

As soon as Adria had disappeared behind the castle doors, Morgana swiftly made her way across the field and over to where Adria was crouching down. For several moments she searched the small area, pulling bushes apart to see if she could find anything. Then, she saw it. Right next to a large patch of burnt grass was a three-quarter full vile of what looked like brown liquid. Taking the utmost care not to touch the leaking liquid, Morgana picked up the vile and examined it closely.

Deciding that the potion must immediately be taken to Gaius, Morgana hid the vile from sight and hurried back to the court physician's chambers.